During this period of transition, I travelled with the entire group of Bolivian MKLM lay missioners (10 adults and three children) to La Paz for a week of reflection and community building. To prepare for the change in altitude in La Paz, I took a "soroche" pill before taking my flight from Cochabamba. The capital city of La Paz is literally breath-taking...at 3660 meters...it is one of the highest cities in the world. Interestingly, most of the city is carved like a bowl out of the Andes mountains and buildings cling to the sides of the canyons surrounding the city. In some ways La Paz reminded me of San Francisco with its narrow, steep streets and colonial, turn of the century architecture....but La Paz has it's very own character...a colorful mix of modern and indigenous (Amaryan) co-existing in a spectacular natural setting!
Our group of ten missioners stayed at the Maryknoll House within the city of La Paz. This timeworn home has been in the Maryknoll family for more than fifty years...serving as a base for priests and brothers who have worked and lived in the region and as a "hostel" for missioners, friends and families when they visit the city. Father Mike, who has served the region of La Paz for many years, was our host and historian. The house is large and spacious but like many Bolivian structures has no central heating. So as Cochabambinos, we all had to layer on clothing to adjust to the very cool "indoor" temperature! Nighttime temps in La Paz can dip into the 20s...so fortunately our individual rooms had space heaters and electric blankets.
Part of our community building experience included a day trip to El Alto, which is a fast growing city of immigrants "above" La Paz....yes...even higher in altitude than La Paz! So to prevent any possible recurring symptoms of altitude sickness...I took another soroche pill. Many of the new arrivals in El Alto have immigrated from the altiplano to find work. Everywhere across the barren landscape was new construction and the faces and culture of the Amaryan people. In the past, several MKLM missioners had lived and worked in El Alto, so the group visited the sites of their missions and spoke with the Bolivians who are continuing these projects in health and education. We were warmly received by our hosts and given a very positive reflection of the lasting benefits of our cross cultural efforts.
As a group of ten we had several days of workshops on discolonization and racism, discussions about diversity and collaboration and special times of reflection and prayer. However, we were also able to treat ourselves to several outings in the city. One of the more fascinating was our visit to the "artesanal" street markets where vendedoras sell everything from dried llama fetuses for indigenous ceremonial use to intricately woven "aguayos" (blankets) made of alpaca wool. The sites, smells and sounds of the street markets were overwhelming at times...each tiny market stall was filled to overflowing with merchandise in a rainbow of colors. I couldn't resist the temptation to purchase something...so I choose a beautifully woven scarf.
Upon returning to Cochabamba...our winter weather has been so warm and beauiful that I have only worn my new scarf once on a cold morning...but my memories of my week in La Paz linger and I realize that just one visit to La Paz is not enough. Next time I hope to explore more of the city and take excursions in the altiplano region to Lake Titicaca and the ruins at Tiwanaku. More to come....
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